Encourage your team to complete their Agent’s Representative training with your support as a way to encourage ongoing loyalty and retention.

After an exodus caused by COVID, there is tough competition in the real estate industry for good talent. With so many jobs vacant, it can be difficult to find and keep the best people. 

However, if you have ambitious lower-level workers on your team, you may be able to provide incentives which give them the benefit of career progression and you the staff loyalty you’re hoping for.  

One of these incentives is training.

An option you could explore right now is offering to fund an administrative team member or executive assistant’s Agent’s Representative training. This training is the first step on the way to becoming a fully licensed agent and it is compulsory to complete for anyone who wants to act as a salesperson. 

About Agent’s Representative training

An Agent’s Representative can work for a Licensed Real Estate Agent and undertake a broad range of duties and responsibilities such as sales, property management, business broking and buyer’s advocacy. 

Once someone has successfully completed an Agent’s Representative Course, they can continue to build their skills in the following areas:

• Auctioneering

• Business Broking

• Buyer’s Agency

• Commercial Property Management

• Commercial Property Sales

• Owner’s Corporation Management

• Residential Property Management

• Residential Property Sales

This formal training covers things like property appraisal, buyer and vendor relationships, marketing, dealing with property owners and renters, trust account transactions and property sales. Elective units also introduce students to the auction process. 

In an increasingly complex industry, having a uniform approach to introductory training is very useful. It ensures newcomers understand minimum standards and have the right skills to do a good job. It also saves you the stress of trying to teach someone everything while you’re doing your own job. 

Incentivise your training

The cost of completing a 12-month Agent’s Representative Course is around $6,000, which can be a barrier to entry for many young people, regardless of their level of ambition. In current times, when motivated staff are hard to come by, you may consider an arrangement where your business covers the costs. 

This can benefit you on a number of levels. Firstly, you have the benefit of knowing your staff are correctly trained. Next, you’re offering an incentive to keep good people on board. 

One way to ensure the outcome is favourable is to agree on a 3-year commitment in return for supporting junior staff careers. Your workers will have the opportunity to learn and develop their skills (and income). You have the advantage of more long-term team members and you can negotiate to pay for further training, depending on their performance. 

You can find out more about Agent’s Representative training on the Consumer Affairs website.  

Create a training schedule

Ongoing training is an important way to ensure engagement for staff at all levels, not just during the entry stage of a real estate career. 

If retention is a focus area for you this year, look to develop a schedule of practical and so-called ‘soft skills’. There may be some areas where you can host informal learning sessions in-house, with your team as the ‘instructors’. You could also invite outsiders to deliver a day of presentations. 

Remember, things like communication, body language and customer service are as important as understanding the market value of a house. Your team will benefit from learning techniques to better relate to clients so they can build lasting relationships. 

Other fun but practical training can cover things like personal presentation, makeup and choosing the best colour palettes for outfits. These may not seem essential but they can make a big difference to confidence and first impressions. Even a little traditional etiquette training to cover things like how to address people and how to introduce yourself can go a long way.

Ask your team what they’d like to learn about; you may be surprised at what they come back with.

BDH Solutions are rent-roll agents with over 40 years experience in connecting the right vendor with the right purchaser. Download our information booklet on the new Victorian Minimum Living Standards Legislation